Sharon J Bolton was born and brought up in Lancashire, the eldest of three daughters. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an actress and a dancer, studying ballet, tap and jazz from a young age and reading drama at Loughborough University.

She spent her early career in marketing and PR before returning to full-time education to study for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Warwick University, where she met her husband, Andrew. They moved to London anSharon's newest book The Craftsman is now available for pre-order and is out on the 3rd May 2018 in the UK! PLUS Alive, a short story/prequel is available for FREE! (see Sharon's website http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/dead-g...)Pre-order here now https://www.amazon.co.uk/Craftsman-Sh...

Sharon J Bolton was born and brought up in Lancashire, the eldest of three daughters. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an actress and a dancer, studying ballet, tap and jazz from a young age and reading drama at Loughborough University.

She spent her early career in marketing and PR before returning to full-time education to study for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Warwick University, where she met her husband, Andrew. They moved to London and Sharon held a number of PR posts in the City. She left the City to work freelance, to start a family and to write.

She and Andrew now live in a village in the Chiltern Hills, not far from Oxford, with their son and the latest addition to the family: Lupe, the lop-eared lurcher. Her daily life revolves around the school run, walking the dog and those ever-looming publishing deadlines....more

The Craftsman (Hantverkaren in Swedish) has been nominated for an award by the Swedish Academy of Crime Fiction in the Best Translated Thriller category. Sharon received the news during the Sundsvall crime festival last week and was presented with her award certificate by the Academy’s president. The winner will be announced in late November.

Detective Sergeant William Oliver Layton Fawkes hasn’t long been reinstated in his job with the metropolitan police. After attacking and harming a suspect in the Old Bailey, seconds after a not-guilty verdict, Wolf and most of his friends understandaDetective Sergeant William Oliver Layton Fawkes hasn’t long been reinstated in his job with the metropolitan police. After attacking and harming a suspect in the Old Bailey, seconds after a not-guilty verdict, Wolf and most of his friends understandably thought his career was over. Sectioned, losing his home and his wife, Wolf’s life had pretty much ground to a halt. But then the same suspect was caught red-handed, on the scene of another murder and Wolf was largely vindicated. He was allowed back, possibly hoping for a quieter life.

Not a bit of it, because just across the street from his new flat, a gruesome stitched-together corpse is discovered hanging from the ceiling. At least one of the body parts, the head, belonged to the very man Wolf nearly served time for. Within hours a message is received by Wolf’s ex wife, a tv journalist, listing the next victims, starting with the mayor of London and culminating with Wolfe himself. The police investigation becomes some sort of bizarre reality TV show, all conducted in the public eye, with the world’s press running a grotesque live count down to the next murder.

It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it is original, fast paced and full of surprises....more

Taking place over just 24 hours, this novel is nothing if not fast-paced and heart-thumping.

A body of a 15 year old girl is found not long after she sends a social media message to her friends. It looks l“You have six seconds to read this message.”

Taking place over just 24 hours, this novel is nothing if not fast-paced and heart-thumping.

A body of a 15 year old girl is found not long after she sends a social media message to her friends. It looks like suicide until a second girl disappears. This one is Lottie, the younger sister of a senior investigating officer with the Metropolitan Police. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the kidnapper is playing a deadly game of hide and seek with the police.

The victim is a young woman with a high social media profile of her own, giving rise to speculation that she might be partly to blame. Did she bring this on herself, by putting herself out there?

The kidnapper uses Snapchat to send messages to the police, especially DS Nasreen Cudmore and her journalist friend, Freddie Venton, teasing and taunting them, continually reminding them that they have just 24 hours to find her alive. Each snapshot message lasts for a just a few seconds, an effective means of ramping up the tension that Clarke using to heart-pounding effect....more

“Each was only second best, and they wore each other like hand-me-down coats.”

Recently widowed young mother, Cora Seagrave, moves from her home in London to the village of Aldwinter in the Essex marshes. A chance encounter brings her into the acquai“Each was only second best, and they wore each other like hand-me-down coats.”

Recently widowed young mother, Cora Seagrave, moves from her home in London to the village of Aldwinter in the Essex marshes. A chance encounter brings her into the acquaintance of William Ransome, the local rector and his family, and a friendship ensues. Cora, a keen amateur palaeontologist, is intrigued by stories of the Essex serpent, a mythical creature that might be living among and preying on the folk of Aldwinter. Hopeful of a ‘living fossil’ she is as fascinated as the village folk are terrified and the rector repelled.

On the surface this could be just another story, albeit beautifully written, of a young woman struggling to find her place in the world but, ultimately, this is neither fairy tale, nor coming of age novel, nor Gothic fantasy, although it has elements of each, but a story of relationships and a forbidden – and at the same time, quite blessed – love. The crooked imp of a surgeon, the passionate socialist reformer, the beautiful consumptive, the autistic child, the wealthy would-be philanthropist: all make Cora the centre of their world, each demanding a great deal from her, each blaming her when she cannot provide it.

It is also, completely, a story of its fictional time. London in the 1890s saw Darwinism challenging religious thought and religion still battling to hold back the fungus-like creep of superstition and paganism. It was the time when ambitious, pioneering surgeons pushed the boundaries of what their conservative colleagues deemed acceptable and when the many thousands who lived in squalor and degradation were starting to rise up and demand change.

Wonderfully realized, beautifully crafted and perfectly formed. The Essex Serpent is a Dickensian masterpiece for modern times....more

“The people we love fall into two distinct camps, it seems to me. First, those whom we are obliged to care for, connected to us through ties of blood and, occasionally, other people’s marriages. Then there are those few souls who suit us so perfectly that we cannot help but love them. Those whose very presence seems to lift our spirits, soothe our ruffled feathers, tilt the disturbed world so that its axis is true again.”
―
Sharon Bolton,
Little Black Lies

Crime Detective Mystery Thriller Group
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This is a book club/group for ALL books about crime, mysteries, and thrillers. From romantic suspense, to pulp fiction, to cozy mysteries, british detThis is a book club/group for ALL books about crime, mysteries, and thrillers. From romantic suspense, to pulp fiction, to cozy mysteries, british detectives, true crime and more!...more

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